Pushing Focus
by Maybell's Stories
Summary: Emma Overland was supposed to be a normal high school freshman. Her brother Jackson Overland was constantly at her side. Everything changes, when four mysterious figures show up at her school five months from he completing her first year.
1. Prologue

**I've had this though for a bit, and I've honestly wanted a fic focusing on Jack's sister. As for her name I've decided to go with what a good amount of people have gone with. So Jack's sister is Emma. The other guardians will come in at around chapter two.**

 **I don't own RotG.**

 **Lets begin.  
**

* * *

A small car drove down the gravel road at the edge of a forest on the outskirts on a town called Burgess, a young man with pronounced white hair sat at the wheel, focusing intensely on the road in front of him. In the passenger's seat, a teenaged girl stared out the window.

"So... are you excited for your first day of high school tomorrow or what?" the boy questioned, blue eyes still watching the road.

The girl shrugged, "I guess."

"You guess? Emma, this is the beginning of high school! Drama, friendship, nonstop parties!"

"Jack you know I'm the last person to ever party," Emma responded, "I'm excited, I just... what if I can't make any friends? We just moved here, and I don't know..." she trailed off.

Her brother, Jack, just laughed, "Seriously? Em, you're the most likable person I've ever known. Literally everyone back home loved you, and were completely baffled when they realized you were my sister."

"That's because you constantly were pulling pranks on people. How can you be so nonchalant about this?"

He shrugged again, "Senior year sis, makes you pretty chill, you should try it sometime," he said waving his hand through the air.

Emma tucked a stray hair behind her ear, turning back towards the window.

"I'm just glad I'll have you with me," she murmured.

Jack reached over and rubbed her hair, effectively mussing it up.

"Don't you worry, you're too cute to not make any friends," Jack flipped on his turning signal and made the turn, a small bridge in sight. A deep river underneath.

"Besides, if you ever need help, you can just call your favorite brother."

"Jack you're my only brother. But sure thing."

The two fell into silence, a warm feeling spreading inside Emma, reassurance pushed away any nervous thoughts and she closed her eyes.

It was at that exact moment, when Jack's eyes drifted over towards the river, admiring its beauty, that a large white truck spun around the corner and on the bridge in front of the car, within seconds it slammed into the front of the tiny car hitting the driver's side and sending the car crashing into the rails of the bridge.

Emma's eyes shot open with a terrified shout as Jack forced his arm over her body, shielding her face from the glass that shattered inwards towards the two of them. Emma could feel a horrible piercing as glass attacked her arm, her face saved by Jack's arm.

As the car stopped and things settled, Emma risked opening her eyes to see the damage.

What she saw made her wish she hadn't.

"Jack!"

His hand was still gripping her body, protecting her from any threat that could attack her. Glass embedded the entirety of his arm, blood dripping profusely. Chocolate irises followed the damage to his face.

Haggard breaths left his mouth as swelling began on his head, where several nasty cuts decorated pale skin. Droplets spilled from clenched eyes. Upon hearing his sister's voice, Jack forced his eyes to open.

"Emma..." in speaking a few drops of red ell from his lips. It was then that she noticed the machinery that was cutting through her brother's favorite blue hoodie and into his stomach. Effectively pinning him to the seat. The car shifted on the edge of the bridge.

She shrieked, terror filling her as she couldn't stop the tears from falling freely mixing with the blood covering her.

"Jack, Jack, you're... Jack. What do I do? Tell me what to do," she pleaded.

Jack shuddered, "Emma, I need you to be very careful and listen closely."

She nodded.

"I want you to crawl out the back door on my side. Once you're out, call 911. okay?"

Unable to form words she simply nodded again and began to unbuckle and crawl towards the back, careful not to push any weight towards the cold water below.

The trip fro her seat to the back door was slow and terrifying, and every moment convinced the fourteen year old that the next moment they would be sent over the edge and into the deep waters below. As soon as she opened the door and jumped out she pulled her phone out and dialed 911.

" _Hello, this is 911, how can we help you?"_

"Please, my brother's trapped in our car, I can't get him out, there's blood everywhere-"

" _Dear can you please tell me your location?"_

"W-we're at the bridge on the edge of Burgess, Pennsylvania, please, the car is gonna fall soon!"

" _An ambulance is being dispatched now, dear I need you to stay on the phone with me. Is your brother awake?"_

Emma grabbed the door handle on the driver's door hoping that maybe she could open it, it was useless but she wasn't about to let go.

"Yes, he's the one who helped me get out of the car. But he's badly injured, I can't see the car that hit us, but," she choked," he's hurt really badly, please hurry."

Jack turned his body to face Emma, putting a bloodied hand against the window. She couldn't stop the stream of tears that blurred her vision.

Suddenly the cement under the car gave way, and the vehicle shifted downwards.

Emma shouted, gripping the handle with all her might.

" _Ma'am, I need you to stay with me, the ambulance is almost there."_

Terror coursed through her, "THE CAR, I CAN'T HOLD ON! MY BROTHER, HE'S STILL, IN SOMEBODY HELP ME, I CAN'T PLEASE," she dropped the phone, "JACK! JACK PLEASE, PUSH ON THE WINDOW SOMETHING! JACK JACK! STOP NO!"

Tears of fear fell from both siblings' eyes.

Too weak to move, Jack simply mouthed three words to Emma that would forever haunt her.

"I love you."

Emma's hands slipped and the car fell from its perch, crashing into the dark, murky waters below.

* * *

 **Please don't kill me.**

 **I promise this is a happy story.**

 **Anyways, this is the first fic that I'm starting that I actually have time to work on and that I have enthusiasm for. Hopefully I'll have the first chapter up soon.**

 **Until then**

 **Bye Bye~**


	2. Catastrophe

**Onwards with the show.**

 **I do not own RotG  
**

* * *

 _Five Months Later  
_

* * *

A pair of bare feet hung over a bed swinging absentmindedly, attached to said feet was a body groaning from boredom. Sitting at a desk on the other side of the room was Emma Overland, the sound of a pencil scratching against paper emanating from her desk.

"Emma I'm bored, you've been working on homework all weekend. Talk to me Emma," Jack rose up from the bed," Give me attention!"

His whining did nothing to sway Emma who simply continued to solve the algebra problem in front of her.

Seeing that speaking did nothing, he walked over to her and looked over her shoulder at the problems. He pointed to the one she was working on.

"If you solve the equations one at a time before all together it will be faster," he said.

Emma looked at Jack, "But that's not how we learned how to solve it Jack."

"Still, my way's faster, and who was it who aced every math class ever? Me? That's right," he smirked.

He looked over at the pile of homework that littered her desk.

"Geez Em, your teachers are awful, who gives you three essays in two weeks?"

"Ms. Talbot does Jack, it's an honors class, so of course there will be a lot of homework," she responded.

Jack grimaced, "Ugh, Ms. Talbot, that woman is such a bi-"

"Jack, watch your mouth."

He threw up his hands and walked back around his sister's room studying the small animal figurines that sat upon her dresser, and the way everything was so perfectly organized across her window sill. He stared out the window, watching the neighbor kids still relishing in the new patch of snow that had layered across the town. A young boy, Jamie Bennett, and his friends were in the middle of a serious snowball fight.

"Em, why don't you go play with your friends?"

Emma looked at her brother, "Because they're not my friends, they're just some kids who felt sorry for me and would let me stand around them, I don't need pity Jack, I need to get good grades and finish high school. Go to college, make something of my life."

She returned to her work, hoping that her brother wouldn't bring it up again.

"Everyone needs a friend Em."

She slammed her pencil down and turned to yell at her brother.

"Jack I-" she faltered.

He had left.

She returned to the problem at hand, guilty that she had pushed her sibling away, but thankful to finally get of peace to work on her homework.

She lifted the pencil and continued her work, following the advice Jack had given her, and he was right, she did finish the problem faster, she went and checked her answer, finding it correct she went on to the next one.

A sudden thump against her window startled her and she jumped from her seat in fright. She ran over to the window to see what had happened, only to see six teens watching her window in fear that they had angered her. They all raised tentative hands and waved at her, which she returned solemnly before stepping way from the glass and moving back to lay on her bed.

"Maybe I do need some friends," she murmured, placing an arm over her eyes and closing them.

For a moment she thought about joining the group in their fun. But as quickly as it came, the idea fled from her mind and she curled up on the bed, reaching over to grab the poorly sewn pillow that lay on her bed.

It was a simple white cloth with cheap stuffing, but on the outside her name was sewn in in large brown letters. The stitching was messy, and she thought about fixing it for so long, but the more she thought about doing it, the more fearful she became about ruining it. It had been a gift from Jack back when he was in seventh grade and had a class that taught him how to sew.

One of the few things she didn't throw away. Couldn't throw away.

Brown eyes drifted towards the window once more, "Why should I try?"

She curled in on herself, wrapping her arms around herself as wetness began to pool on the purple comforter she lay on.

"No one wants to be friends with a girl whose brother was killed, they're too scared."

The time was only 4:07, but it felt like midnight.

* * *

Jack felt a little bad about leaving Emma like that but, sometimes he just didn't understand how teenage girls worked, so moody all the time.

Or maybe it was she kept seeing her dead brother.

He thought carefully for a moment.

No, must be mood swings.

He was currently standing at the top of their house, watching the kids playing in the snow below him. A pang of frustration and envy hit him and he desperately wished he could convince Emma to join them.

Taking a step from his perch, Jack jumped down from the roof and walked over to where the kids played. Envious of their fun, he sat down in the middle of their snowball fight. The group, having been slightly nervous about hitting Emma's window, was beginning to calm down and start up their game again. Balls were thrown and the sound of laughter wafted into Jack's ears.

"Jamie Bennett you cheater!," Pippa, one of the girls with a habit of wearing a green beanie everywhere, shouted.

The boy in question was in the middle of packing together a new ball, upon hearing his name being called he smiled, "How did I cheat Pip?"

Unable to find an answer, Pippa threw the ball in her hand, hitting Jamie directly in the face. Jack couldn't stop the laugh that escaped him, neither could the other four teens who were around.

Soon the six were back to throwing snowballs at each other, and after another hour of watching frozen water attack rosy cheeks, Jack stood up and left just as they decided to build a snowman or two.

Walking down the street icy eyes looked at all the houses and kids playing in the snow. A small smile graced his face looking at children in colorful coats and scarfs building igloos and snowmen with older siblings and parents.

Oh how he wished he could join them.

The seventeen year old continued on his way, moving from the neighborhood towards the shops that were in the middle of town. He passed several stores, taking care to avoid any and all pedestrians walking on the sidewalk, holding extreme dislike for the awful feeling of emptiness that came with someone going through his body.

As he passed a store, something caught his eye.

A pair of ice skates, brown and covered in red and green patterns sat in the display case. So perfectly arranged that Jack couldn't help but imagine how beautiful they would be on Emma's feet. She hadn't been ice skating since... since... well, since the winter before he died.

It was something Jack had been meaning to ask Emma, how he'd died.

The only thing Jack could remember was slowly coming around, finding himself in his room, thinking it was a normal day, heading downstairs to find his house completely empty. He went to open the front door... only to have his hand move through the handle and outside.

Needless to say, Jack had been scared shitless, confused, and completely and utterly alone. When Emma hand their mother had finally returned home, Jack was sitting in her room curled up and shaking. When he heard the door to her room open he could hear a gasp and when he looked up all he knew was that something wasn't right. Emma's face had been a mixture of horror and bafflement, when he stood to ask her what was happening, she had screamed, attracting their mother, and startling Jack into falling backwards and through the wall and outside.

He returned later, and this time Emma had calmed down enough to listen to him.

They had quickly come to the conclusion of him being a ghost.

With that settled, Jack had watched his sister attend her freshman year of school, and what was supposed to be his senior year.

Thinking about everything angered him to no end. And it scared him too, why couldn't he remember anything?

Seeing as he had reached the woods at the edge of the town a sudden rush of emotions hit him.

Terror.

Anger.

Sadness.

So many negative emotions attacked him, and with such a rush of thoughts he screamed.

The first time he had done so since he had woken up five months previous.

His shouts and shrieks rose above the natural sound barrier and it felt as if the trees and buildings around him shook in his wave of anger.

Screaming felt good.

Jack stopped and took a breath.

And screamed again.

And again.

And again.

He screamed until he could see the movement of the world around him falter and warp in his shouts. He could hear tree branches cracking and splintering under the stress he made. He could feel the ground shaking and the building behind him beginning to collapse from the pressure.

When he finally stopped to look around him, more terror gripped him.

Everything within a twenty yard radius of him had been destroyed. Trees were ripped and uprooted from the ground, branches and leaves littering the ground. The building, which thankfully was just an abandoned factory, had the side closest to him fully demolished, brick and stone crumbled underneath his feet as he walked over to see the full damage. Not one pebble had been spared in his fit.

Terrified of what he'd done, Jack stepped back from the broken world around him.

He turned heel and ran, ran to the only place he felt safe.

"Emma! Emma!" his shouts filled the air, along with hysterical sobbing.

"Emma! Emma help me!"

His feet refused to stop until he reached the house his family still lived in.

* * *

 _Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

Small hands reached over to turn off the alarm and stare at the location it presented.

"Ms. Tooth?"

A young woman walked over to where the smaller girl was working. A dozen other girls sitting at identical computers turned to look as well. The young woman, from obvious Indonesian descent with bright amethyst eyes stared at where the girls alarm had shown up.

"What's the location Mini Seven?" she asked.

The girl typed in a few codes before answering.

"A small town called Burgess, Pennsylvania, a sudden spike in paranormal activity occurred at 7:52 p.m. and left a substantial amount of damage to a twenty yard radius. Completely destroying the woods and building nearby. Luckily the area was devoid of any people, so no one was actually harmed," she finished, stealing a look at her superior.

"What's the estimated age of the spirit?"

"Young male, sixteen to nineteen in age, that's all I've been able to decipher with the readings."

Ms. Tooth nodded before straightening herself.

"Alright, Minis One, Two, and Three, contact North, Bunny, and Sandy respectively. Mini Four and Five get a hold of the Boss and let him know I've got a hit. I'm taking the other three and we're headed to Burgess, Pennsylvania as soon as we all meet. The rest of you, continue with your work, if any of the others contact for a different mission, let them know what we are doing," she paused for a moment, "Mini nine, contact Katherine and let her know she's on the backup call for the foreseeable future."

As soon as orders were given, the workers immediately responded with their job. Ms. Tooth left the room and walked down a narrow hallway before grabbing the coffee cup that had been placed on the nearby table. Taking a sip she relished in the sweet taste, knowing that she was going to need a lot more in the upcoming days.

She groaned, "Just one week, we can't go one with without someone dying."

* * *

 **Alright, so I know I said the Guardians wouldn't show until chapter two, but I had the perfect introduction idea for Tooth.**

 **Also for anyone who doesn't know this, cause I see it a lot. Tooth is from Southeast Asia. So I judged that as a human she would be from Indonesia, with dark skin and hair. So yes, Tooth is from Indonesia in this story, in the books it doesn't specify what country she's actually from, just Southeast Asia, so I did a bit of guessing for her character here.**

 **Anyways, more to come soon.**

 **Until next time.**

 **Bye Bye~**


	3. Movement

**Hello hello.**

 **How are you liking it so far? Good? Bad?**

 **Anyways, onwards!**

 **I do not own RotG.  
**

* * *

By the time Jack had made it back to the house he had managed to calm down a bit, Reigning in his fear and forcing a neutral look on his face. He stepped up to the front door and stood there for a moment, studying the intricate designs laid out upon the wood. He'd never appreciated it when he was alive. The small curls of wire cased in glass shined under the moon.

The moon?

It was then that he noticed how late it had gotten. The moon was high, no one was left outside. How long had be been gone? Away from Emma.

He jumped through the door and into the living room. Eyes catching the hand sewn pillows his mother had made years ago.

That was when he heard quiet sobbing.

Entering the kitchen he saw his mother siting at the dining table, a framed picture in her hand.

"Oh Jonathan," her voice quiet, soft brown hair dangling in front of equally brown eyes. Emma was the spitting image. Jack came and stood behind his mother, looking down at the picture she held. It was a picture of his father and him, just as Jack was beginning his first day of school, one of the last picture he would have with him. If not for the hair, eyes, and obvious age difference, the two could have been mistaken for siblings.

"Jon... it's been five months already. And yet... Emma refuses to leave her room except for school, even then I'm certain that she's not talking to anyone. She wont talk to me. A...and I'm so scared Jon, scared that just after losing one baby I'm about to lose the only thing I have left."

Jack reached to touch his mother's shoulder, feeling lost when his hand simply went through.

"Mom..." his voice was low, barely a whisper and how dearly he wanted to hug her, kiss her, give her some sign that he was there, "I'm so sorry."

"Jack, my baby," Jack looked up startled, only to realize she was still talking to the frame, "Jack what should I do? Oh baby I miss you so much. I just wish... I should have been the one to go to the store, why did I send you? I just... I just want to hold my baby one more time," she closed her eyes and lay her chin down on the table, letting quiet sob rack through her.

For an hour Jack simply stood there watching, wishing that he could do something, when he noticed his mother had fallen asleep, picture still in hand. He glanced over to the living room, seeing a simple blanket. Desperate to do something he walked over to it. He lifted his hands towards it, and willed with every fiber of himself to pick it up.

He reached down and grabbed it, stunned when the blue fabric came into his hands.

He returned to his mother, draping the warm blanket over his sleeping mom. Thinking that maybe it could work with her too he willed to be able to touch her. He placed his hands forward and felt something break when his arms went completely through, almost slapping himself for having a sliver of hope.

He turned around and left, walking up the stairs towards his sister's room. He looked at the clock that sat against the wall coming up the staircase.

9:48.

He wondered if Emma would be asleep or not. He poked his head through the door, silently hoping she was sleeping.

Emma was curled up on her bed, her laptop sitting in front of her as she watched some cartoon. After a few moments she closed the laptop and went to set it on her desk, Jack pulled his head out the door, scared she would catch him. After a minute he peeked back in.

Seeing her eyes closed he entered and went over to the window sill, sitting down in the chair next to it.

The sky outside was clear, the moon was big and bright, yet... it seemed just as sorrowful as he was. Jack reached a pale hand out, desperate to be a part of the large white orb that sat in the sky. Passing through the glass window he wished so badly to be able to feel the cool January air outside.

He let out sigh.

And closed his eyes, though he knew it wouldn't bring him any rest.

* * *

"Agh, Tooth, why did you have to call us here so soon? We just finished our last mission what... yesterday?"

"A week and a half Bunny," Ms. Tooth stated, scribbling down on a piece of paper, while simultaneously typing something into her computer, and sticking a half eaten piece of toast in her mouth, "An' b'sides," she swallowed, "the boy we're headed after destroyed and entire building in seconds."

Bunny, a tall man in his early twenties, threw his fists in the air, "Alright sheila, lets take our guns and ram him into the ground!"

"Bunny! He's a kid, probably just scared, we need to be gentle with this one," she quickly responded, standing up and jumping over to the bookshelf behind her colleague.

"Toothie, you say that about every ghost we run into."

"I do not," she said appalled.

He pointed a slim finger at her, "Oh yes you do, our last mission, getting rid of that behemoth, you were certain that he could just be reasoned with, and it almost got us killed."

Before the dark skinned woman could retaliate, the phone rang, she picked it up and answered.

"Yes?"

Bunny, walked over and slumped against the desk, watching Tooth as she nodded to the speaker.

"Alright, thank you," she hung up the phone, "The North and Sandy are here Bunny, let's go."

The two exited the room and entered into the room that held the dozen or so girls typing away at their computers. Sitting at a large table at the front of the room was a large man, a sharp beard pointing out and hands moving excitedly while he told a story, the other man, no older than nineteen nodded along listening intently, as long spiked hair bobbed with silent laughter.

Tooth and Bunny joined the two at the table.

"Ah, Toothie, I was just telling Sandy the newest story of mine and Kathy's missions, is very funny," the taller man stated.

"I'd love to hear it North, but first things first, we've got a new mission to deal with."

She handed folders to the other three sitting with her and they each opened them to read the information inside.

"Our target is a young boy aged seventeen, a ghost previously known as Jackson Overland, he's currently haunting in a small town called Burgess. From what my minis gathered he died approximately five months ago in a car crash by a drunk driver, leaving his mother and sister behind."

At this the blonde, Sandy, sighed, a look of sadness overcoming him.

Tooth continued, "His first blowup occurred just n the edge of the town, resulting in the destruction of a building and many trees. This kid is powerful, and probably won't go down without a fight. He's probably still here because of revenge."

Norht raised a hand, "Tooth, why did you call us if he's just looking for revenge? If that's the case you should have called Koz and Emily Jane and given them this mission."

Tooth stopped him, "I called you because he's also haunting his younger sister, it isn't just revenge, he's involving himself with a child. So, our mission is infiltration, we have to get to the sister if we're gonna get him to move on. Pack your bags boys, we leave tomorrow, I've already set us up with Burgess high, North will be going in as a workshop assistant teacher and Bunny, Sandy and I as senior transfers."

"Guys, I know children is usually our department, but don't you think we're getting a little old for this?" Bunny asked.

Tooth waved him off, "Nonsense Bunny, you're just worried you're gonna have to shave off that beard you've spent three years growing, and yes, you will."

The man in question grumbled, but didn't refute her statement.

Sandy raised his hand to get Tooth's attention. She looked at him expectantly.

"Yes, Sandy?"

He lifted his hands and began moving them in a rapid fashion, signing out his question.

" _Undercover names?"_

"Oh yes, new names people, memorize them fast. North will be known as Mr. Nikolai Ivanov, Bunny, you'll be Edmund Aster, Sandy will be Anderson Aster, you two are half brothers, the rest of your backstory is in your folder. I'll be going under as Ana Nejem. Alright, now that we've got that sorted, does anyone want something to eat?"

* * *

Emma finished packing her bag and pulled the strap up to her shoulder, walking down the stairs quickly and walking into the kitchen where her mother was preparing what looked like breakfast burritos.

"Good morning sunshine," her mother said, turning away from the stove to smile at her daughter, "Did you sleep well last night?"

Emma nodded, contrary to actually being true. She'd slept horribly, nightmares plagued her every being, watching her brother fall off the bridge time after time after time again. it had been an endless loop and each time she'd thought she'd save him, he'd fall down, still trapped in that seat.

"You might want to hurry if you're gonna catch the bus, it'll be here any minute," had she'd not been used to it, Emma would have jumped at the sound of her brother's voice interrupting. Instead she used that as an excuse to leave the house quickly.

"Hey mom, but bus is almost here, I've got to get going."

Her mother's smile faltered a bit, before quickly returning, and handed her a burrito before shooing the freshman outside towards the bus that was already pulling up.

Waiting there already were six other freshmen, each waving at her as she ran up to them. Jack following behind.

"Hi Emma!" said the tallest of them, Pippa.

"Hi Pippa."

Jamie stood next to her smiling in the cold weather, "Hey Emma, do you want to come with us after school today, we're gonna go over to the site where that weird phenomenon happened a few nights ago. You know the one that took down the entire building there."

Emma would have responded if not for the sharp inhale of breath that escaped her brother. She snuck a look at him. His eyes were wide and his body was stiff, immediately becoming suspicious she vowed to ask him about it later.

She turned back to the kids who were already boarding the bus, "Sorry guys, but I promised my mom I would help her clean the house today."

The hopeful looks on the other kid's face fell but Jamie smiled anyways, "That's alright, just if you change your mind, you'll know where to find us."

With that he joined Pippa in the seat, while Emma made her way towards the only empty seat still available. She placed her bag down and went to staring out the window, barely noticing her brother sitting next to her.

"Hey Em."

She looked over to where the pale boy sat. Eyes trained on him.

"What was that all about," she whispered, referring to his small episode.

He looked away from her then back. His eyes nervous as she waited for him to answer.

"It was me."

Emma sat there for a minute, trying to understand what he meant.

"What do you mean Jack?" she continued to keep her voice low, lest anyone else hear her talking to herself.

"I mean... that site, where everything was demolished, it was my fault, I did that, and I don't know how, but..."

"We'll talk about this later, somewhere where I won't get a bunch of weird looks from people."

With that the two sat in silence, waiting for the bus to reach the front entrance of the school.

When the bus pulled up to a stop she stood up, following the rest of the kids off the bus and into one of the worst places she could imagine.

High School.

She took a deep breath, and although she'd been doing this for five months now, it still didn't make a difference, each day felt as if she was still being watched and pitied by her peers and the staff.

She entered the building, Jack following behind, making rude gestures and comments towards all the people that couldn't hear him. She would have laughed, but people already thought she was weird enough. No need to make it worse.

"Good morning Emma, how was your weekend?" her teacher asked, shuffling the papers he had just finished grading.

"It was fine, thanks for asking sir."

She took her seat, pulling out her pencil and notebook. Jack took a seat on the table beside her watching her scribble on the paper. He pulled his legs up and let his arms drape across his knees. Showing his boredom plainly, only to be ignored when Emma's class began.

Emma listened to the class blankly, taking notes and answering the questions asked of her. Thoughts ran through her mind, questioning her own future.

What should she do about Jack? Distantly she wondered if there was some secret organization that could deal with it, help him move on or whatever. Not that she actually wanted him gone, the last piece of her brother.

And what was the whole issue with the destroyed building? What did Jack mean it was his fault?

Regardless... she turned to watch her brother as he sat through the boring lecture, occasionally making comments.

It had been five months... she should talk more with her brother. Maybe that would help her. Maybe she would be able to get over it, she didn't understand why she was still so sad all the time, this was a second chance, something to be happy about... kind of.

In that moment, listening to her teacher dismiss them for their next class, did Emma decide that from that second onwards, she would spend the rest of her life enjoying the last fragment of her brother.

It was in that same moment, that three transfer students, and a new assistant teacher entered the high school, searching for a young girl with long brown hair, and eyes to match.

* * *

 **Hey hey, okay so I fixed a mistake that I saw in the first chapter and so on.**

 **Anyways, hope you guys liked this chapter, I'm hoping to start getting them longer.**

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Bye Bye~**


	4. Discovery

**I don't own RotG.  
**

* * *

Emma picked up the large slab of wood sitting on the table. Examining the sliced edges carefully she pushed it into the spinning metal plate once again, trimming the edges more and perfecting the single piece of wood. Once satisfied, she took it over to her table and began fitting it together with several other pieces, slowly giving her project shape.

Before she could finish it, the teacher called the class to attention. When they all looked up, and the saw and noise ceased, their teacher and another man who stood beside him cleared their throats.

"Class this is Mr. Nikolai Ivanov, my new assistant teacher, he'll be joining for the rest of the school year, if you have any questions and I'm not available, ask him."

Emma gave the man a look, more than two feet taller than her his brown hair pulled down into a goatee and beard, the man was physically fit, and seemed to know his way with wood shop. She shrugged, greeted the man with the rest of the class then returned to her work.

"Whatchya working on sis?" Jack asked, materializing beside her.

Emma glanced around her, finding no one to be watching her.

"A desk, I'm making it for mom, since she needs a new one."

Jack circled her and the project, scrutinizing every angle.

"I like it so far, you're doing pretty good. Hey, whose the new dude?" he asked pointing to the new assistant teacher.

Emma looked over then back to her work, sanding down individual pieces.

"That's our new assistant teacher, his name's Mr. Ivanoff or something. I don't really care, as long as I can get my work done."

Jack watched the muscled man as he helped out a few other students who were having trouble, his expertise truly showing. The man was intriguing jack gave him that, but there was something that sent a shiver down the ghost's spine. He crossed his legs and continued to stare.

It seemed normal until the man stared back. Bright blue eyes invading Jack's space and making the boy jump in his place. This Mr. Ivanov, had seen Jack, the first person to see him since Emma, and that wasn't right. Why could he see him.

Jack was frozen for several seconds before this thoughts caught up with him and he pushed himself off the table, and moved closer to his sister.

"Emma."

"What Jack?"

"That man is looking at me."

"Jack what are you talking about?"

"Your new teacher, he- he can see me, he's watching us now, what do I do?" fear was beginning to pool in his stomach again and Emma looked over at the man, seeing him watching her and her brother.

"Jack just run through the wall. Don't come back and wait for me at home."

The boy nodded, not thinking of a better idea, he turned tail and ran, jumping as he ran through the wall and left. At the same moment, Emma saw Mr. Ivanov walk over to the teacher and speak with him before leaving the room.

Not wanting to raise attention, Emma just sat there and hoped that her brother was clever enough to get home quickly.

North pulled the small flip phone Tooth had given him the day previous and texted the other three, letting them know he had found the spirit and was on the follow. He just needed to get a fresh scan of the boy and then they could trace him without a problem. He couldn't have done it in the room because pulling out what looked like a gun in a high school would very quickly get him arrested and cause more unnecessary issues that the four of them just didn't have time for.

He exited the building looking for the boy, and finding a view of white hair disappearing around the corner he took chase, knowing full well that he was probably headed home.

As he ran he pulled out his scanner and turned it on, following the running apparition. Not wanting to draw attention to himself he followed without speaking, watching the area around him checking for spectators. Finding none he shouted towards the running boy.

"Wait! Stop running!"

If anything, this seemed to make the apparition move faster. The pace picking up and North almost paused in shock, thoughts flying through his head. He still had the boy in sight, so with a flourish of his hand he raised the scanner and pulled the trigger. A small light pointed out from the gun like object and poured itself over the ghost, taking in the entire body and obtaining any and all information of the ghost's makeup. Once North heard the small ding that indicated its completion, he stopped running and watched as the boy escaped, surely headed back to his home.

North turned back towards the school, attempting to get back before anyone noticed his strangely long absence. He sent another text to the group, before he quickly jogged back to the school building.

* * *

 _Later..._

"I don't understand Jack, I thought I was the only one who could see you," Emma said, sitting on her bed and watching her brother pace the room.

"That's what worries me Em, what if he's here because of me. When I left, he started after me, I was almost scared he was gonna catch me-" Emma cut him off.

"Jack he can't actually touch you. You're a ghost remember?"

Jack took a moment to collect her words, icy eyes trailing over the room.

"What if I'm not?" he murmured.

"What was that?" she responded, not hearing his words.

As if to prove something Jack went over to Emma's desk, where an empty water bottle was resting.

"What if I'm not a ghost? Emma, the other night, I came home to find mom in the kitchen again. And I stayed with her for a while, you know, just until she fell asleep, and I don't know what it was but I just _really_ wanted to help her in some way, show her that I was still here," he moved his hands around the bottle, concentrating with a vigor that Emma hadn't seen in several years.

"I didn't want to leave her there cold so I..." he moved his fingers in and Emma gasped as his nimble digits didn't go through the plastic, instead they gripped the water bottle, holding it up in the air.

"How-"

"I don't know!"

Emma scampered off the bed, moving quickly over to where her brother stood, her eyes peering at the bottle in wonder.

"What was it that you did with Mom?"

"I put a blanket on her. Believe me, when it worked I was surprised too, I mean, I thought ghosts where supposed to just walk through walls and scare people," he stated, while Emma reached out to take the bottle, feeling the plastic in her fingers.

"Can you... touch me too?" she questioned, hope filling her eyes.

The look on Jack's face told her everything she needed to know.

"You tried with Mom didn't you?"

"Yeah."

Emma thought deeply for a minute, dreaming of being able to hug Jack again, just once more. Memories filled her, of how warm his body heat always was, the smell of peppermint and winter that always seemed to surround him even in the summertime. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked to the floor in hopelessness.

Jack held his arm out, as if to place it on her shoulder, but not wanting to experience the horrible feeling of being passed through he paused.

"Em..." he started.

Emma fell to the floor, a sharp pain hitting her knees but she couldn't care less, for the first time since the accident, she'd felt hope, and wonder, and something happy. But just as quickly as it had come, it was gone, leaving her feel empty.

"Jack I just miss you so much!" her voice rang out so loud she would have been surprised if her mother hadn't heard her.

Her voice dropped to a whisper.

"It's been more than five months and yet, every time I see your face it just reminds me that I can never hug you, snuggle with you after a bad day. Seeing you hurts, but I don't want you to leave because I don't know what I would do without you now," she sucked in a troubled breath, "I've decided Jack, I don't care who that Ivanoff guy is, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. You're gonna stay with me and I'm never letting you go."

Jack sat down in front of her, not saying a word, but holding a hand tight to his heart, trying to stop from it hurting.

"I'm sorry Em," he whispered.

She smiled towards him.

"Don't be, it wasn't your fault."

His frown became deeper, a million questions racing through his mind, but without his permission one slipped past his lips.

"What do you mean?"

Confusion littered both their faces. Emma spoke first.

"You... don't remember? How you died?"

For a moment, Emma couldn't understand the nod of her brother's head, she'd just assumed...

"I didn't want to ask you... since, you know," he mumbled, not meeting her eyes.

At first she didn't want to tell him, scared of what it would do. Then another thought occurred to her, Jack deserved to know. Not telling him would be selfish.

"We were driving home from the store, Mom had sent us out to pick up a few things for dinner and for school since it was starting the next day. We were headed across the bridge when this maniac came around the corner and hit us. I got out of the car but you were trapped, the... the car, it had impaled you to the seat, I don't even know what part of the car it was. You fell over the bridge and drowned or maybe you died before you hit the water, I don't know. But when I finally turned around to look the driver who had hit us was gone. The police said it was probably a drunk driver, they looked for anyone with the car description I gave them, but they couldn't find anything. It was like the guy disappeared."

She looked at Jack, finding him listening intently, a look in his eyes showing him trying to remember anything.

"It all happened so fast, I didn't know what to do, once the police and ambulance came it all started to blur together, Mom came and found me at the hospital. That's all I can really remember. We didn't have a funeral, since we couldn't find your body. Heck, they couldn't even find the car!"

Jack reached his arm out, wanting to desperately to hug her, to console her, to give her hope, anything. With even more will than when he had picked up the blanket he pushed his hand towards her.

And feeling awful when it went through her shoulder.

The two stayed there in silence not wanting to think about anything that had happened, yet neither of their minds could be distracted.

"How about a movie?"

Emma was surprised by the remark, looking at Jack, then smiling.

"That sounds like a good idea, what movie?"

Jack put a finger to his mouth, pondering the large arsenal of movies at their disposal.

"How about that one with the penguins? And the octopus? Where they fight crime with a wolf?"

Emma smiled, "Perfect, I'll go get it."

Though Jack and Emma were both terrified of the inevitable confrontation with the Russian man again, watching four black and white animals made the whole situation slightly more bearable, and though Emma's laugh was the only one heard by their mother as she passed by, it was enough to fill the entire house with something that none of them thought would ever be back in their lives.

Hope.

* * *

"What do you mean he's not a ghost?"

"I mean he's not a ghost, I read the scans, it's very strange, and I can't explain it. I've never seen any creature like this before, but Jackson Overland is no ghost. That's why he's so powerful for such a small boy."

North rubbed a hand against his dark beard, scratching an itch and pondering the information he had just told Bunny, Tooth and Sandy.

Tooth had a worried look to herself, "Guys, I think this is more than we can handle. We need more information before we can go any further."

"What are you suggesting Toothie?" Bunny asked, an answer already forming in his mind.

She pulled her petite hand from her mouth, words completing the answer Bunny already knew.

"I'm calling Kozmotis and Emily Jane first thing tomorrow morning. This is bigger than we could have ever imagined, we need their help if we're gonna get to the bottom of this. If that boy isn't a ghost, then the only person who can explain it is those two."

A groan escaped Bunny, dreading the upcoming week.

* * *

 **Sorry this one is a bit shorter.**

 **I've just about completely mapped out this fic. It's not going to be very long, maybe four or five more chapters, I wasn't planning for it to be more than twelve chapters, but at the rate it's going it might be even less than that, we'll just have to see.**

 **R &R**

 **Until next time...**

 **Bye Bye~**


	5. Understanding

**I don't own RotG.  
**

* * *

Emma stared at the dancing boy in front of her. A grin on her face as he jumped over to where she and Pippa stood, grabbing both their arms and pulling them in to dance as well, though there was no music the group of students couldn't stop the laughter that pushed pass their lips.

The three were in the middle of physical science, doing some simple experiments, and they had been grouped together, with the success of their hypothesis, Jamie believed that warranted a victory dance of sorts. The three quickly stopped however, when their teacher called the class to begin clean up, as the bell would ring soon.

"So Emma," Pippa started, "We're going over to the river today to hang out, if the water is still frozen we might skate a bit, you want to join?"

Emma shrugged, "Sounds like fun, but I'd have to ask my mom first, what time were you planning to go over?"

"Well, we all have to go home and pick up our skates and winter stuff, so it might be an hour or two after school, it's not that far from our neighborhood so we were all just going to meet up there."

"I'll ask my mom when I get home then," she finished.

Her mother was going to be at work all day, she wouldn't get home until late that night, Emma knew her mother would be fine with her going out with friends. The person she really needed to ask was Jack.

Because that river went right under that bridge.

As soon as the class had cleaned up their workspaces, the bell rang, signaling the end of fifth period. Emma grabbed her backpack and left, waving her goodbyes to Pippa and Jamie.

"Hey Jamie."

"Yeah Pip?"

"Have you noticed something different about Emma lately?" she asked, turning her head to look at her friend.

Jamie nodded as the two turned to go to their next classes.

"She seems, happier now, like she's finally feeling better."

Pippa agreed, it seemed their friend was starting to live again.

* * *

Emma entered her art class, not a class she particularly excelled in, but it was one that Jack had always wanted her to take, his love for her drawings pushing her to take the class. She wasn't very good, but if Jack liked them, then she would draw him anything. It had been a day since that new teacher had joined the school, and it had seemed that every transfer student were joining as well.

Two seniors, and one sophomore had joined her art class in the past day. She didn't feel the need to speak with them, but somehow, the two guys and girl had found it necessary to pick the empty seats at Emma's table.

She gathered her needed supplies for the class's current project of painting with certain color schemes.

The girl, Ana, if Emma could remember correctly, greeted her the same way she had the previous day.

"Hello Emma, how's your day going?"

The senior girl was sweet, Emma would give her that, but something seemed a little off about her, Emma wasn't sure what, but there was something off about all three of the new students.

"I'm fine."

For a moment, Emma wished she had Jack next to her to make funny comments about the three people in front of her, but both Jack and she had decided that it would be safer if he just stayed at home. After that incident, Emma didn't want to risk anything.

Scampering back to her seat Emma went to pull out her paint brush and start painting the spaces in between the lines of the sketch she had drawn.

The youngest of the group, a small blonde boy named Anderson, who did not look like a sophomore in any way, tapped Emma's shoulder. She looked towards him, and he pointed towards the picture she was painting.

"What?" she asked.

Once again the boy pointed to her painting, and Emma struggled to comprehend why he didn't just ask whatever question or statement he had.

Without looking up from his own painting, the boy's brother, Edmund, a senior with strangely grey hair who told everyone to call him Aster, answered Emma's question.

"He's mute ya gumby, he want's to know what you're painting."

Emma had no idea what a gumby was, but she knew it was an insult, slight offense overcoming her, she made a face at the senior, then turned to his much sweeter brother. Now understanding what he wanted to know, she answered.

"It's a painting of my brother. He really like blue and the snow, so I went with that color scheme."

Anderson nodded with a smile, and pointed at his brother, making a serious face, and then pointing his thumb downwards.

Emma smiled, guessing that he was trying to tell her that his brother was a bit of a stiff.

That was when she decided she liked Anderson much more than this Aussie.

Ana spoke to Emma with a smile, her own paper littered with sketches of twenty or so little bird like creatures.

"So Emma, how long have you lived here?" she asked, a grin stretching her dark lips. Bright amethyst eyes watched the freshman girl. And Emma couldn't help but feel comforted.

"I've lived here for about six months now, moved here about a month before school started," her words were curt, and though they answered the question, they were still vague.

All she wanted to do was work on her project and she silently vowed to remember to bring her headphones to school the next day.

Aster looked over at Emma's painting, she noticed him quickly and tired to ignore his scrutinizing gaze. She wouldn't say it, but though he only had a sketch and not a drop of paint on his, the picture looked remarkable.

It looked almost like a huge garden, with a plethora of flowers, and stone carvings, the detail in the sketch alone was impeccable. A small wave of envy went through her, but it left in a flash, and was instead replaced by annoyance as the older boy wouldn't move his eyes from her painting. She stopped her strokes and looked up to glare at Aster.

"Can I help you?"

The boy snorted and returned to his own work. Not daring to make eye contact with her again.

Needless to say the rest of the hour was quiet awkward.

* * *

Emma was muttering under her breath, complaining about certain Australians and their inability to keep their eyes on their own work. Not like it was a test or anything but it was still obnoxious.

The winter air was slightly colder than usual and Emma made her way home quickly, eager to speak with her brother and make sure that everything had gone well while she was gone. Without a doubt Jack would be fine with her going to the river, she just wanted to see if her wished to join, so that she could still keep an eye on him.

Across the street, two figures walked together, chatting quietly. Emma had no clue as to what they were saying but she immediately recognized the taller man's brown beard and bulky frame. In his hands looked to be a gun, but before Emma could shout she saw him hold it up to another man, who seemed to read it.

Read it?

Who reads a gun?

She was lost for explanation, but she quickly took in the second figure, a lanky man, wearing almost all black, matching slicked back onyx hair as well. His face was long and made Emma feel nervous.

She picked up her pace to head home, shooting her mother a text that she would be going out with friends and would be home later.

Trying to quickly pass the two figures and make it home without attracting their attention, she kept her head down, and eyes on the ground.

As soon as her house was in sight she hefted her bag more secure around her small shoulders and pushed more distance between strides. She was sure that she had lost the two a few minutes back, but she wasn't going to take any chances.

Keys already in hand, she practically jumped up the steps to her house and unlocked the door, granting her entrance and sanctuary. She let out the breath she'd been holding and inhaled slowly. Dropping her bag on the ground she vowed to pick it up later and instead moved upstairs to grab her skates and snow gear.

"Hi Em, how was today?"

After the previous evening, Jack had started picking up things all around her room, trying to become better at it.

At the moment, the white haired boy was trying very hard to push the buttons on the TV remote to play the movie he had managed to put in the DVD player. He didn't look up from his project and instead waited for an answer.

"It was good, though there are these three new transfer students who are driving me crazy, I mean, the small dude is pretty cute, and the girl is nice, but the oldest is beyond obnoxious," she said, answering his question before asking one of her own.

"Hey, a couple of my friends were going to go to the river to skate if the water was sill frozen enough, I told them I probably would go, but I just wanna make sure you're alright. You are okay right?"

Jack stopped trying to mess with the remote, and instead looked at his sister.

"Yeah I mean it's fine, it's just, do I still need to stay here? Or what?"

Emma thought over possible outcomes of the situation, and shook her head, "You should be fine, that man doesn't know where we are so as long as I don't talk to you openly then no one would suspect anything."

Jack nodded, trying to decide whether or not to join his sister. After a moment his stood up and walked over to where she stood.

"Okay, sounds like fun, just promise me you'll be careful right?"

"So does that mean you're coming or staying?"

"I'll come, just to watch, I just wanna make sure you're safe."

Emma went over to her closet and pulled out her skates, and anything else she would need while out.

The two left the house and began the trek towards the river, snow crunching beneath Emma's boots and falling softly around the two.

"It's been so long, I almost forget what snow feels like falling on you," Jack murmured, eyes watching the flakes catch in his sister's dark hair. Her nose already gaining a pink hue despite only being out for a few minutes.

She responded her words just as quiet as the area around them, "It feels like... like something cold settles on you, but it's so inviting. Watching snow fall is relaxing, and letting it fall on you is like being reminded that there are still good things in this world. It's often seen as disastrous, but it also reminds us that there is an undeniable beauty in winter. Each flake is an individual creation, so unique that nothing can be matched with it. Just like us. Each flake, though separate can simply melt against your skin, together can create the most beautiful images of the seasons."

Jack watched her speak, something blossoming in his heart, it was hard to tell what it was, just on the tip of his tongue. He thought for several moments when it came to him.

"Winter is fun," Emma finished, turning to Jack with a small smile.

"Yeah," he whispered.

That's what it was.

Fun.

* * *

"Alright, so explain everything you know."

That morning Tooth had contacted Kozmotis and Emily Jane, a woman whose long face was the spitting image of her father's, urging them to come quickly. Their speed was impeccable, as they arrived the moment the four others were able to leave school. Right then, the six paranormal experts were all seated together at a large table in the rented apartment.

Tooth began first, "As far as we knew, this Jackson Overland was just a simple ghost, probably still tied to our world due to either revenge or his sister. After North discovered him hanging around his sister, we were able to rule out revenge. It is probably a good thing too because we have no leads as to who caused his death. The police have it filed as likely a drunk driver, but we can never rule out foul play."

Kozmotis nodded, and Emily leaned forward, intent to catch everything that was being said.

She continued, "When North got the scan of the boy we noticed an anomaly in the makeup," she handed them each a copied scan of the information, "Normally a ghost's makeup is just a range of a few emotions, generally the ones they held at the time of death as you know, but when we looked at his scans, his mind was fully capable of an entire range of emotion and coherent thought."

North took over, "This is no ghost as we know, that's why we contacted you two. With your dealings in the darker side of the paranormal we figured that you might have come across something like this before."

Kozmotis cleared his throat, "Yes, you are correct in the fact that this boy is not a ghost. But, what he really is..." the older man trailed off, the age begining to show in his face.

Emily Jane finished for him, "The last time we encountered something like this was back before any of you worked here. Back when I was just a kid."

Across the table, Bunny suddenly sat up, "You don't mean...?"

The woman just nodded, long black hair falling in front of her. A shadow passing over her eyes.

"This boy, undoubtedly, has been possessed by a fearling."

* * *

 **Hello, that's a cliffie.**

 **Man this has not been my week, yesterday I was rear ended by someone, luckily my sister and I were both fine, but I had a panic attack and I was more aggressive because of it. I'm really sore due to that today as well. Hopefully this next week will be better.**

 **TheGhostSeeker:** Aw thank you sweetie, that's really sweet of you to say.

 **R &R**

 **Until next time...**

 **Bye Bye~**


	6. Introductions

**I don't own RotG  
**

* * *

"A fearling, what is that?" North asked, confused.

"A fearling," Emily Jane began, "is a creature of complete darkness and evil, when they take over a body, soul, or anything in between, they are able to cause great destruction. You say he demolished an entire building within minutes?"

Tooth nodded, "And the surrounding area."

"For a fearling to take control of someone, it is usually in the moments before death, when the person's mind is wishing with all their heart to not die, when this happens, they usually have a valiant reason to want to stay alive, which is what makes this all the more upsetting. Only someone with a completely pure heart and intent can be possessed. This boy was wishing to protect his sister with all his heart. There must have been a fearling nearby that took over his body, the fearling's goal is to destroy the one of the possessed. Effectively ripping apart their soul and feeding off of the massive amount of fear that is extracted."

Tooth placed a hand on her chin, "How come you haven't told us of these fearlings before? And how do you even know so much anyways?"

Kozmotis sighed, "There have only been a few incidences where they have actually done this, and it was not common knowledge to us, the only person with access to their information has been either those who fought with them, and the Lunar Tsars. When Emily Jane was very young, my wife and I were caught up in a massive fight with them, they had shown their faces to us, and we... captured them to study. The information we had on them was dated, and 'The Man in the Moon' believed we should study them."

The room was silent to listen to the story.

"Emily and my wife had stopped my where I was working, and in my distraction, they got loose and attacked. In my final moments all I wanted was to do was save the two most important people to me. But instead of just one like what had happened in every past accident, every single one took my mind and distorted it. I... I killed my wife in my disillusion, if it wasn't for my daughter bringing my mind back I would have truly died. The fearlings in me joined together to create a creature beyond all horrors."

"Pitch Black."

Kozmotis stopped to look at Bunny, who had interrupted him.

Without waiting for prompting Bunny spoke again, "I remember hearing Emily say something about him a few years back. You killed him didn't you?"

"Yes we did, it was difficult but we managed to destroy him."

"Wait," Tooth said, "that doesn't explain why we wouldn't know anything about these fearlings. Why haven't you been pursuing them anymore?"

Emily answered, "We believed that it was a collection of all the fearlings, or at least enough that destroying them would mean that we wouldn't have to worry about them again in our lifetime, that the information would be passed to the next head of the Tsars. It's been kept secret because just knowing about them causes fear, and it gives them power. The fearlings reproduce, as we've discovered, when they take control of someone and while ripping apart their soul, the fearling devours it and grows until it splits into multiple others. This boy... with the strength of his first outburst, means his soul is immensely strong, strong enough, that when this fearling attempts to devour him, it could be enough to bring Pitch Black back to life."

Several breaths were sucked in, horror filling the room.

"If it's anything to go by, he will start having outbursts very soon after his first one, all triggered very easily, they will get stronger and bigger, until it's enough to take out the entire town, and likely the several surrounding ones. Casualties will be high, unless we can find his body and return his soul."

"Wait, what do you mean 'return his soul?'" North questioned.

The tall woman pursed her lips and brought her hands together, "It is an undeniable fact, this boy's body could still be alive, trapped by the fearling, yet also protected by the water and injuries, almost like cryopreservation, but also making him invisible to regular human sight. If we find him, and return him, we can stop this whole mess from ever happening."

* * *

Seeing the river made Jack suddenly nervous, he couldn't explain what it was but a sudden need to get away pushed at him and he alerted Emma.

"Hey Em, you go on ahead, I'll be right there."

She looked at him curiously, "Are you sure Jack?"

He bobbed his head up and down, "Certain, I'm just gonna go check on something."

"Okay," she was suspicious but thought he was perfectly capable of handling himself.

She went on ahead, leaving Jack to stumble back and run into the woods behind him. Just like a few days previous, panic started to seize him, knowing what was coming he needed to get as far from Emma and her friends as possible.

The sound of tree branches breaking were already clouding his mind as his breathing became more labored. Shouts of fear escaped him and he ran faster.

He was deep in the woods now, he knew that, and he began to scream in horror. Pain and terror clenching him and ripping his mind apart. He cried, trying to calm himself down, but failing.

What was happening to him? Why again? Why now?

None of these questions were answered as blue eyes watched the wind around him shift and turn, uprooting the trees from their safe haven in the ground, and shredding the wood like it was nothing. The dirt flew around him and blocked his sight from the rest of the world. But he knew, he knew that the damage being done was massive, bigger than before, and this only scared Jack more.

He screamed, trying to get all his fear out, trying to fight it and send it back to the dark crevice of his mind where it belonged.

"Go away! Go away! GO AWAY!" he shouted. Crying and shrieking, in an effort to scare away his fears.

He collapsed to his knees, feeling his body drain of energy, and as he regained vision. The first thing he saw was the sheer expansion of damage. He couldn't even measure the length of his destruction.

Guilt overwhelmed him.

This was his fault.

Why did he have to come back?

Why couldn't he have just passed on?

Why?

Why?

Trees uprooted as far as the eye could see, in the distance, a few trees remained standing and Jack was praying that he had run far enough away from his sister that she was fine.

The boy didn't move from his knees, the fear still gripping him, knowing that if he returned he might hurt his sister.

For almost thirty minutes he sat there, Emma was surely worried for him but he could bring himself to return to her.

Footsteps alerted Jack to the presence of several people but he didn't care. He just wanted to sleep. He just wanted to keep his sister safe, was that too much to ask for?

His eyes were closed, and he refused to open them. It did matter who was there, it wasn't like they could see him anyways.

"Jackson Overland?"

The use of his full name startled him, his eyes shot open and came face to face with a beautiful dark skinned woman, brightly dyed hair framing her face and her eyes froze him to his spot.

She could see him.

When he finally could move it was to see the Russian man who had chased him the previous day. Beside him stood several other figures, the Russian man held the same gun as before pointed to him, and the other figures were all armed in some way. The shortest of the group, a young looking man with bright yellow hair, walked up beside the woman in front of him and reached out to touch Jack.

Instinctually Jack moved back. A small squeak escaping him mouth.

"Shh, honey, you're alright," the woman said, her words soothing, and Jack looked back at her for a moment forgetting the other man, as he reached forward and placed a hand on Jack's chest.

Pain and surprise flared in his chest. The man touched him! But why did it hurt so much?

Another noise of pain left his mouth and he struggled back more.

In an effort to stop his movement, the woman shushed him again, this time, speaking to him continuously.

"Shh, snowflake, look at me, listen to me," she said, her voice almost like a singing bird.

Jack didn't know what was wrong with him, but as the smaller man pushed him back towards the ground, the woman began to sing.

Her voice was almost like an angel, in a way it reminded Jack of his mother, and the lullabies she would sing to him as a baby.

The pain was still there, but somehow, listening to the woman sing, it was bearable.

The fear, and guilt, and terror ebbed away, and calmness took over.

He lay there, in the rubble of the trees, the skies above them gray, and listened to her voice.

Soon enough, the other man took his hands away from Jack's chest, the pain leaving him and the song ended. His mind returned to him and he slowly sat back up, watching the people shuffle around him. Another woman approached him, her long black hair and shimmering eyes captivating him. She nodded and turned towards her colleagues.

"We were right. He is possessed."

Jack became alert, "Possessed? What do you mean possessed? I'm just a ghost, I think," he said.

The yellow man came close again and examined his face. Jack wasn't sure what to do, so many people could see him. He waited for someone to answer his questions.

The yellow man turned away from Jack, looking at the oldest man of the group, a tall man, with pitch black hair, and a scowl that almost frightened Jack. He signed a few words to the man, to which the man nodded and stepped forward.

"What is your last human memory?" he asked. Taking a seat in front of Jack.

Jack was taken back, "M- my last memory?"

The man nodded.

"Uh... I... I guess it was moving to Burgess... my last memory is... I think maybe two weeks after moving, so a week before school was due to start. It was a normal day, I was unpacking my stuff and I went to bed that night, my next memory is waking up alone in my room, everything in a different state than when I left it, and finding my sister, and being told it it had been almost a month since... since I had died," there was so much missing and it scared Jack.

The man nodded his head in understanding, "Your last memory took place about a week before you died, you've missed about four weeks of memories. Jackson, you being here is no coincidence, and your not a ghost. You're a possessed soul. You shouldn't even be here."

The pale boy tried to comprehend the words spoken to him, yet, he felt just as confused as he had when he'd woken up.

"I don't..." he started.

"We need to find your body, do you know where it is?"

Jack nodded, "Yes... we'll actually no, my sister might know more than me. But even then she said that they never found my body."

"So your sister can see you," the statement was said by the man with grey hair, his accent making Jack recognize him as the guy his sister had been complaining about at school. It was then that Jack realized he'd said too much.

"I- wait-" he stuttered, "Don't hurt her."

The colorful woman put a hand out, "No, no we won't hurt her, we're here to help you."

"Help me?"

"Help you move on, that's why we need to find your body."

Jack places a hand to his temple, rubbing it and attempting to understand everything that was going on.

"How do we find my body?"

* * *

 **Woo two chapters in one day! I'm pretty proud.**

 **Anyways...**

 **R &R**

 **Until next time...**

 **Bye Bye~**


	7. Meeting

**I don't own RotG  
**

* * *

It had been a while since Emma had last seen Jack, it was in the middle of a snowball fight that she finally noticed his absence. She paused just before she tossed the ball in her hand. There had been a bit of strong wind earlier but she and the rest of the teenagers had disregarded it as the winter season.

"Hey Emma you alright?" one of the twins, Claude, asked. He blocked a snowball that was about to hit him in the face.

"Yeah, I just need to head home it's getting a little late, and I still have some homework to do," she said, throwing her snowball hard towards the other team.

Emma said her goodbyes to the group and turned towards the road. Once she had moved far enough away from the group Emma jumped up towards the forest, and looked around, searching for her brother. Finding nothing she continued onwards looking for her brother, hoping to catch sight of him or anything related.

She walked for maybe twenty minutes when she saw the first destroyed tree.

It startled her at first, but then she recalled something Jack had said about being the cause of the building that had fallen down. She picked up her pace and jogged closer, following the debris.

Once she passed the last standing tree she gasped. A large clearing of trees, at least three times the size of the building and surrounding area earlier that week. Trees had been forced flat and many ripped apart, the destruction was phenomenal. For a moment she could not move, worried for the safety of Jack.

In the far distance she saw that looked like several people huddled together around what must have been the epicenter of the carnage. She took off, hoping to get there quickly, because where the center was, there was Jack.

Legs pumping hard she thought of what terrifying things must be going through her brother's mind. She had to get there. As she got closer, she could make out the bodies of her three classmates and the teacher who had chased Jack. The man who she had seen him with was there too.

"Jack!" she yelled.

That caught the attention of the surrounding group, once she reached them she pushed through everyone to get to Jack, finding him sitting calmly.

"Jack, are you okay?" she questioned, worry evident in her eyes.

"Yeah... I'm fine..." he muttered, "Em... they know how to help me move on."

For some reason, hearing those words didn't bring joy to the teenager, instead it filled her with dread and anger. This was her second chance to spend time with her brother, and now these people wanted to take him away from her?

"What?" was all she could manage.

She didn't know she was crying until Jack tried to wipe away her tears, worried for her. He failed, of course, but that didn't stop him from trying.

"Emma, why are you crying?" he asked.

Emma stood up, directing her anger towards the strangers in front of her, trying to protect her brother.

"Who... who the hell do you think you people are?" she started off slow and quiet, but quickly gaining momentum, "This is my brother, my second chance to spend time with him! And now you're trying to take him away?" she pushed the man in all black in front of her away, "Go away! You're not wanted! You're not needed! Just leave me and me brother alone! He's MY brother and you have no idea what you're doing!"

Suddenly the man in black swelled up, seeming to grow three times in size and darkening the area around the.

"You foolish child! YOU are the one who does not know that which she is doing! Your brother is on the verge of a catastrophe so great that it could destroy your town and the towns nearby! We are here to protect you, and the living people still here!" his voice was thunderous, and Emma could barely keep herself from shrieking in fear.

Her eyes were wide, tears still streaming freely. She fell to the ground, sobbing.

"He's my brother... why are you taking him away?"

The man shrunk, the sky lighting up once again and her put a hand on her shoulder.

"Your brother, is not what you think he is."

* * *

"That outburst was at least four times the size of the previous one, if he hadn't run so deep into the woods, a lot of people could have been killed, how close are we till Pitch can return?" Tooth asked.

Emily Jane didn't look up from where she was sitting.

"Judging from the magnitude of that last one, I'd say the next outburst he has will be it, and it's gonna be here soon if we don't return him to his body. We need to do that tonight."

Tooth's eyes widened, "So soon? It hasn't even been two weeks since his first outburst, how can he have escalated so quickly?"

"His emotions, that boy has more fear of failing his sister, than my father had of killing my mother and me. His heart was truly pure at his time of death."

The Indonesian woman sighed, heart sinking at the thought that they would once again be pulling two siblings apart.

A thought occurred to her, "Emily, you said that this boy could still be alive right? Why didn't you tell them?"

"Because on the off chance his body can't be saved, and in all logistics, I really don't think it can, they should both be prepared to have Jack move on. And besides, it has been more than five months since the boy died, though Emma was the only witness, most people would freak out if he showed up alive and well."

The two women obtained their needed gear, preparing for the upcoming battle that would likely be coming, Each one hefting backpacks full of supplies, and they knew that the boys were doing the same in their rooms.

Once ready, they looked at each other before nodding.

* * *

"Mom's probably worried by now," Emma said.

Her and Jack had been staying in a kitchen in what was the group's rented home for the duration of their stay, Emma had been skeptical at first, but with Jack by her side, she felt safe. The table she sat at was beyond uncomfortable, but she couldn't have cared less about comfort at that moment. The only things that went through her mind was working to stifle the hurt feeling she got when Jack had told her we was going to go through with moving on.

"She might be, have you called her?" he asked.

"I lost my phone when I was running towards you guys. Must have fallen out of my pocket."

"Ah."

The two sat in silence, guilt riding on the shoulders of Jack.

"I'm sorry," he said.

This caused her to look up, "For what?"

"For dying, for not remembering, for getting ready to leave you again."

She didn't respond to that, instead choosing to look at the clock that was sitting on the wall.

6:30.

Wow, it had been a while.

Footsteps brought them out of their reverie, moving their attention to the group of people who came down the stairs, fully prepared and equipped to face the oncoming storm.

"Let's go."

* * *

They were at the bridge once more. A place Emma had hoped she would never have to go to again in her lifetime. Yet here she was, and the place chilled her to the bones. Looking over the bridge she saw the ice that had formed over the river, light snow dusting it, and hiding the horror that was undoubtably beneath it.

Kozmotis spoke before anyone else.

"Alright, finding this body won't be easy, and Jack, make sure not to touch it until we've brought it above the water. You need to go under and find it's exact location. We won't be able to see it, but since it's your body, you will."

As he spoke, both he and North began to don water masks, and their clothes, which had been woven with heat insulating materials clung tight to their skin.

Jack only nodded, waiting for them to give the queue.

Once the body had reached the surface Jack would try to merge with his body again, forcing the fearling inside to leave, and forcing a fight that the rest of the group was there for. They had tried to make Emma go home, but even Jack knew it would be futile, the girl would never leave him.

Not until the very end.

Jack tried to keep his worry down, instead, following the two men down to the water and watching them break the ice, once they had done that and jumped in, Jack joined them.

Jack had no feeling of the cold and he didn't need to breathe either, but the water around him shifted slightly by his presence, though not by much. The river was deep and dark, but Kozmotis and North both had flashlights with them, waiting for Jack to move.

He looked around, finding nothing at first, but then discovering a glint of silver, he motioned for the two to follow him as he went down.

There was the car, and inside...

His body.

He fought not to lose it.

Surrounding his body was what seemed like a bubble, yet inside his body seemed completely frozen. Poking out from his stomach was a long metal bar, probably what kept him trapped inside like Emma said. Dried or frozen blood covered his entire body, and his eyes were shut. Almost like he was sleeping, and in a way he probably was.

He pointed to it, guiding the two men towards his body.

North was the first to reach where Jack was pointing. The man reached his arm out, and the moment it mad contact with the bubble that surrounded him, it popped, and immediately the body and car became visible to both North and Kozmotis. The two worked together to get Jack's body free, and once they had, they began to swim back to the surface.

Jack left the water first, easily passing the ice and waiting for his real body to follow.

North and Kozmotis broke the water's surface and quickly climbed out, bringing the limp body with them.

Above the three, gasps of horror and surprise could be heard from those on the bridge. North carried Jack's body up the embankment and towards the top of the bridge where Sandy was waiting with what looked like medical emergency equipment.

Emma was crying, unable to control the fear she felt at the sight of her sibling's body laying in front of her.

Emily Jane stepped forward, "Alright, for this to work Jack, you need to be prepared to face an immense amount of pain, fear, and rage. You need to fight the fearling that's inside you. Sandy here has already given you the strength you need to fight it, but it's going to be up to you to utilize the weapons and defeat it."

She paused, looking at Emma, then continued, "When he goes in, a lot of resistance will face us out here. It would have been ideal to move somewhere more secluded, but we don't have the time. You all must be prepared to fight, and if it comes down to it, destroying both the fearling and Jack's soul inside his body before Pitch Black can return. Jack, are you ready?"

Without missing a beat he replied, one last smile sent towards his sister.

"I am."

* * *

The world Jack suddenly found himself in was...

Beautiful.

The sky was a mixture of blues, yellows, and purples, dark, yet comforting in it's minimal light. It was almost like a valley that he was in. Trees of strange shapes grew from the ground, and colorful fruit bore from the branches. The place seemed surreal.

For several moments, Jack felt calm.

Suddenly flying towards him, Jack caught the hilt of a sword. It was composed of what seemed like bright golden sand, it was grainy to the look, but it melded to his hand perfectly. Like it was a weapon made for him. He couldn't help but admire it.

Colors of every spectrum filled his vision, and a pathway materialized in front of him, seeming to speak for him to come. When he hesitated, the scene shifted slightly, the valley didn't change, but a small bird zipped up to him and stopped in his wake. Upon closer inspection it wasn't quite a bird, but more or a fairy like bird, with small hands and feet and a beak. Her feathers were a plethora of shiny blues, pinks, greens, and purples, all melding together like a river. A single golden plume lay atop her forehead, with baby blue and violet eyes that reminded Jack a bit of the Tooth lady and his sister.

The fairy motioned for Jack to follow.

Cautiously he did, her small squeaks guiding him through the beautiful garden. He passed some of the most gorgeous flowers he had ever seen in his life, and he wondered if they were even real. His steps were slow, as the young man wished to take in every image of the valley. Thinking of how Emma would be desperately envious of these sights, he ingrained each picture to memory.

The valley made Jack feel, hopeful, wondrous, like he had stepped straight in to a dream from his memories.

He felt alive in there. Unlike anything he could remember. Light, flittering music seemed to flow from all sides of the valley. It was like a piano, soft notes joining together to create the most harmonious melody to stream in his ears. He breathed in the air around him, it smelled of fresh fruit and bath bubbles from childhood. It almost made him want to stop following the fairy and play.

She caught his attention once again, and guided him forward.

They continued, and Jack's grip on the sword slowly became tighter. The fairy had led him into a forest, and as they strode deeper and deeper, the bright colorful world he had grown used to began to dissipate. The trees became wrinkled, twisted, and dark. The green grass faded to crumpled black leaves. Everything around them started to die, and fear began to fill the teenager.

"Where are we?"

The fairy looked at him, she flew up and placed a tiny hand on his cheek, as if telling him not to worry, and that everything would be fine.

She took his pointer finger in her hands and pulled him onwards. He followed, suddenly remembering that there was something he was supposed to do, but couldn't quite place his finger on it. The sad forest was desolate of beauty, and void of any life. Jack wondered what on earth were they supposed to be doing.

She pulled him into a large clearing, once he entered, the sword began to pulse in his grasp, preparing for a fight. The golden sand wound its way around his body, slowly creating some sort of armor to protect him. He could feel every grain of sand as if they were alive and encasing him like a warm hug. It was comforting, and brought his mind to ease from the darkness that surrounded the boy and the fairy.

Suddenly, from the darkness in front of them, a form began to appear, melting from the darkness and pulling strands of it together to stitch together a body. It grew and grew until it finally was able to stand up and face Jack.

The man who stood before Jack reminded him of someone he had met, except, darker, scarier, and this man's eyes looked as though they wanted to kill him. Ashen skin was taught against bones, and it frightened Jack. For a moment he felt hopeless, before the sand moved against his body, reassuring him of the protection he had.

He remembered what he was supposed to be doing there.

"Why, hello Jackson."

"Pitch Black."

* * *

 **Dun dun dun, it's getting suspenseful isn't it?**

 **Anyways, we only have a few more chapters to go before this story is completed. And their gonna be a doozy.**

 **R &R**

 **Until next time...**

 **Bye Bye~**


	8. Finale

**I don't own RotG.  
**

* * *

It had been nearly twenty minutes since Jack's soul had returned to his body, and nothing on the outside had happened. The seven of them had stood there, waiting for something, anything, to occur. Yet, as more time passed by, a mixture of pessimism and confusion took hold.

"I don't understand," Emma said, "I thought you said there was gonna be a fight. He hasn't moved an inch."

Emily Jane knelt down beside the broken body, reaching out and taking hold of the bloodied face, feeling for any sign that the fight would begin.

"I am just as lost as the rest of you, but the only thing we can do it wait, if we try and move the body, we might mess up the scene inside, and cause an even bigger disaster, waiting is our only option."

So they sat there, waiting, for something to happen, watching as Jack's dead corpse lay broken on the asphalt. Without so much of a twitch changing his body.

* * *

"I didn't expect you to look so..."

"So much like that useless general from before?" Pitch interrupted, "Well, I would have changed my form, unfortunately, after so many years of hiding in the shadows I've lost a great deal of my strength."

Jack took a small step backwards, fighting not to shout when he almost tripped. With a quick glance down his eyes caught hold of what looked like a shepherd's crook. He reached down to grab it with his open hand.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Stopping himself, Jack sent a questioning glance towards the shade.

"Why?"

The man lifted a slim finger from behind his back, pointing it at the branch, "That branch was part of these trees, trying to use it as a weapon against me would never work."

The fairy, which had perched herself on Jack's shoulder, flew up and over towards Pitch. Sending her sharp nose prodding at his face, and making sounds that Jack presumed were meant to reprimand the man.

In this small distraction, Jack took hold of the branch, warning or not, he was going to use it.

The moment his hand closed around the old wood, the sand swirled around it, attaching itself to every nook available to it. Soon the crook was shining in golden light, no longer having the appearance of belonging to the shadow's forest. Energy moved through Jack, and with one quick step he turned towards Pitch, were the fairy was trapped in his clutch.

"Wait-" Jack began.

"If you want her back, then you'll hand over that staff," he prompted, squeezing his fingers slightly.

The sound of the fairy's squeaks could be heard, telling Jack to ignore her and to fight the man he faced. She pulled her head out in the silence and jabbed Pitch's thumb, effectively eliciting a shout and making him release her.

She flew over to Jack, and pointed once at the dark being.

Without needing more prompting, the boy lifted the staff and sword, aiming at Pitch, pushed his feet off the ground, and _flew_ at him with a shout.

In that moment Pitch brought up a wall of shadows, knocking Jack back a few inches, before he jumped up once again. This time his staff finding a target on the side of Pitch's head. The shade hollered in pain, but brought up a fist covered in shadows to collide with Jack's sword.

Pitch jumped back, and from behind him, pulled out a sword of his own. Jack didn't have time to admire it, but it look almost identical to the one in his hands, only black.

The two clashed once more, their swords screeching as they ground against each other.

Icy blue eyes met with bright amber, and a fire lit between them.

Pitch swung his sword downwards, only to be blocked by Jack's staff. He growled, but then used his other hand to guide a swarm of darkness to land a punch in Jack's gut. Pain flared and he tried to ignore it as he lifted the staff and sword to stop the oncoming bought of shadows that were flying towards his head.

"You're going to be mine Jack!"

"I will not!"

The darkness laughed as he lunged once more for Jack, "You naive child, do you really think you can stop me?"

Jack kicked his leg out, attempting to trip Pitch as he ran at him, "I'll do whatever it takes to stop you!"

"When I defeat you boy, I'm going to destroy the world you hold dear! First I'll start with those ridiculous Guardians, then I'll do away with the town, and then I'll rip apart your precious sister's soul piece by piece! And you know what will make it even better? It will be with you're own two hands!"

The maniacal laugh that followed chilled Jack to his bones. Then rage filled his skinny frame.

 _How dare he!_

Jack flew at him again, his shout deafening as he twisted his sword and staff.

"You will _never_ touch my sister!"

* * *

The moment in which Jack's body first moved, everyone was on edge. First it was just a small twitch, then within seconds, the entire area around them was spinning with wind. Jack's body begining to glow blue and amber, eyes opening to reveal nothing but the colors previously mentioned.

"Alright," shouted Kozmotis, "Whatever you see, don't stop attacking the black shadows that come out, all we have to do is keep them isolated to this area!"

The roof that went above the bridge was ripped apart in the wind, and soon the seven were all spread around Jack's body, which was slowly rising from where he lay. Black sand shot out from Jack's body attempting to spread the destruction further. Emma slammed her weapon against the grains dispersing them and preparing for the next bout.

"You're going to be mine Jack!"

Emma looked up at her brother, barely able to concentrate through the high winds. But the words went through nonetheless. The voice wasn't her brother's though, and sound almost like Kozmotis, except darker, raspier.

"I will not!"

That was Jack's voice. What was going on?

She stopped another wave of shadows.

The darker voice came from Jack's mouth again, "You naive child, do you really think you can stop me?"

The wind felt even stronger now, and Emma has trouble staying afoot, she only hoped that the others were alright.

"I'll do whatever it takes to stop you!"

The darker voice screeched.

"When I defeat you boy, I'm going to destroy the world you hold dear! First I'll start with those ridiculous Guardians, then I'll do away with the town, and then I'll rip apart your precious sister's soul piece by piece! And you know what will make it even better? It will be with you're own two hands!"

Emma couldn't help the fear that radiated from within her, almost like it was crawling through her throat and trying to keep her frozen. But she shook her head, Jack would protect her, he always had.

The light cocooning his body suddenly began to become more amber than blue, and Jack's body began to scream.

"You will _never_ touch my sister!"

The blue retook it's place, fighting with the amber on his body, and shooting out more wind and shadows. Emma could see everyone else fighting, and suddenly a wave was sailing towards her. Unable to lift her weapon in time she froze, terrified of what would happen when it hit her.

Before it did, another weapon reached in and destroyed the shadow. Aster had jumped over just in the nick of time to save her. The man gave her a smirk, "Careful shelia."

She simply nodded, and raised her weapon again to fight back.

* * *

Jack could do it.

Blood dripped from where Pitch had bashed in his forehead, tasting something metallic in his mouth he wiped it away and returned the blow. Making contact with Pitch's side, where he had already kicked him several times. A gash on Pitch's cheek dripped as well as several on his arms where he had tried to stop Jack before.

Jack ran forward, pushing his sword as he did so, and plunged it towards his stomach, only to be stopped when Pitch grabbed it with his hand and forced it from Jack's own. A crack could be heard as the sword was twisted and ripped, pulling Jack's hand along with it.

A cry of pain resounded from the boy and Pitch smirked, taking his own sword and plunging it towards Jack's own stomach. Jack brought his staff to stop it, but only succeeded in not allowing to go all the way through him. Blood gushed from the attack that delved a few inches into his abdomen. Jack struggled not to scream and to reach and fight back but he could already feel himself failing.

How could he?

Have failed?

Pitch's laughter rang in his ears and he wished so badly to wrangle the neck that was so close to him. Pitch held him by his neck and wretched the staff from Jack and threw it away.

"Don't you see you foolish boy, you are nothing but a shepherd's son. Only good for herding sheep! You could never have really believed for a second that you actually stood a fighting chance?"

Tears started to fall from his eyes, fear, rage, sadness all ripping his soul apart one strand of broken muscle at a time.

"Are you seriously crying? Come now what did you really think would happen? That we would scrabble a bit and I would give up? You must truly be the naive child you seem," his word were even worse than the cuts that littered his body.

Jack looked anywhere but the terrifying eyes in front of him, just waiting for Pitch to go ahead and make the final blow, to just end it.

Suddenly, in the corner of his eye he could see some of the sand moving down his arm slowly and into his hand, and an idea suddenly formed in his mind.

"I'm not naive, I just have hope," he gritted out.

The man scoffed, "What's the difference really? Hope is a false pretense used by measly humans to ignore the true darkness that is always around them."

"Hope isn't ignoring the darkness around you," a handle was formed around Jack's hand, he moved it behind his back, "It's acknowledging that it's there and being able to believe that somehow, somewhere, there is something worth sticking around for, hope guides humans to achieve more and to never give up. It's what we live for, and what we accept at death."

The sand stopped around his hand.

Jack sneered, "And you, you can _never_ feel hope, it's something so foreign to you, because you are hope's true counterpart. You are the one who has failed."

Pitch howled, "ENOUGH!"

Pitch swung his arm forward and sent his sword deep into Jack's stomach, the end of it poking out from his back. Jack gasped, as more tears came out.

Pitch dropped Jack to the ground, the black sword still in his body.

"You've failed boy!" he shrieked.

Jack could only muster a small cough, "You're wrong."

The dark shade looked down, in his haste, he had missed Jack's own swing. A gash, which began in Pitch's chest, then was drug down several inches as Jack was dropped, tore open the man's chest. A cry of horror escaped him, and he collapsed next to Jack.

He didn't know how long he lay there, but moving was impossible by any means.

"I don't understand," Pitch groaned, his voice almost gone, "You were dying, I had complete control, how... how did you fight back?"

Jack himself could barely speak.

"Pitch, there's something you don't understand about us humans... our- hm... our lives are short in comparison to our world. There's so much to do, and not nearly enough time to do it all. Which brings up the question... what's the meaning of life?... It's to make a difference for those who will take over... like my sister..."

The trees were begining to become blurred in his vision.

"You humans... are so strange."

A small laugh escaped him.

"Yes... we are... but... to us that's pretty normal..."

He couldn't tell whether it was real or if his mind was fooling with him, but the trees seemed to be regrowing leaves. A flower popped up next to his face, and he couldn't stop the hopeful smile from gracing his features.

"Pitch... I'm sorry you had to be made..." his voice was too weak, and Jack knew he couldn't hold on much longer.

A short, broken laugh was all that made it's way to Jack's ears. Pitch's weighted breathing ceased afterwards and Jack was left alone. Above him, the dark clouds parted and sunshine shone down on him. Blood scattered around, and tears to join. The trees began to slowly regain their color and flowers of all different species grew around him.

It was almost like a small meadow.

 _Dying_ , Jack thought, _might not be so bad after all..._

 _...not if it's in a place like this...  
_

* * *

 **Hey hey, how are y'all doing?**

 **This story is coming to a close, there's one more chapter and an epilogue, then that'll be it.**

 **There's also some news I have to share after I post the epilogue, so get ready for that.**

 **As always, R &R**

 **Until next time...**

 **Bye Bye~**


	9. Denouement

**I don't own RotG.  
**

* * *

Challenging life, was something Emma Overland had never planned to do.

Enjoying life, was something she had never thought would happen again.

And wondering what would have happened had she and her brother had never gone to the store that day, was something she would think about for the rest of her life.

It had been almost half a year since she had last been at the hospital. This time, however, she felt elated.

In her hands she held a book, it wasn't a particularly entertaining book, but Jack had always loved it when they were little.

"'So... be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray, or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea, you're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way,'" she closed the book quietly, so as not to disturb the figure in the bed, or her mother in the chair beside her.

She scooted her chair closer to the hospital bed, reaching out an arm she brushed white bangs away from closed eyes. Pale skin was slowly regaining its lost color, thin lips parted in soft snores that often made Emma giggle. The blanket covered chest rose and fell with a combination of self breathing and a large tube reaching from the nose to the lungs.

The steady beat of the heart monitor brought constant relief to the girl. After two weeks, the dark circles underneath the eyes had gone away, yet the figure had yet to wake. Emma had heard the doctors speaking with her mother, telling her that the chances of the body waking were below ten percent. But Emma refused to accept it, those blue eyes would open soon, she could feel it.

She had hope.

And the that moment, hope was all she needed.

* * *

The light had come again, and Jack tried to wave it away, except his hands were too weak. Instead he just kept his eyes closed and scrunched his nose in frustration.

Sensations began to slowly trickle back into him. And with it, a sense of awareness. First, was the feeling of being warm. He welcomed it, loving the way he felt safe in it.

Next was the feeling of several object poking in his arms, nose, and otherwise specified areas. He grunted as they hit him.

Finally, was the pain, it started in his abdomen, and grew until a soreness was settled throughout his entire body. The pain in his stomach being the worse. A loud groan escaped him and he wished so desperately to wake up.

Another sensation hit him after his groan, soft hands wrapped around his, and rubbed small circles in the back of his. His moaning subsided and he worked to open his eyes.

A white wall first appeared in his vision. Then, long brown locks moved into his peripherals, causing him to stare at the girl in front of him. Whose chocolate brown eyes glistened under the sunlight that streamed through the nearby window. A smile worked its way onto her face and she choked back a sob that was dying to come forth.

"Jack."

Emma began to openly sob, uncaring of who could see or hear her. She reach for his other hand and brought them to her face, relishing in the fact that he could respond. He squeezed her hands back and she moved to wrap her arms around him.

The sobbing woke their mother, who, upon seeing her son awake, began to choke on sobs as well.

She came over and placed a hand against his cheek, "Jack, my baby boy."

For several moments they were together like that, until a nurse rushed in, having been alerted to the change in consciousness. She checked Jack's vitals and called in a doctor.

The doctor pulled up a chair next to his bed, and Emma and his mother stood behind him.

"Good morning Jack, or should I say afternoon. How are you feeling?" he asked.

"My stomach hurts," his voice was hoarse, and confusion filled him,

The doctor nodded, "That should be expected, you've been asleep for two weeks, and..." the doctor trailed off, looking to the women behind him, "Well, a lot has happened, and we're lucky to have found you."

Two weeks...

"What... what day is it? Why am I here?"

The doctor frowned, attempting to find the words to explain.

"You were in a car accident my boy... almost six months ago."

* * *

Amnesia.

Jack had lost six months of his life to amnesia.

When the doctor had finally cleared him to go home, he and Emma had sat together in the living room, watching movies together and eating everything in sight. He'd asked her to try and better explain everything that had happened, but she told him she would later. When he was better healed. He'd accepted her words and turned back to watch the movie, one that had apparently come out while he was asleep. It was a rather cute movie about penguins and he laughed throughout the entire thing.

Emma had watched Jack, trying to make sure he was alright, and trying to put together how she would explain what had really happened to him. The explanation would come later, but at that moment, she pulled the blanket over her shoulders, and snuggled closer to the body that was next to her. Their mother had then entered and sat down beside Jack, taking part of the blanket and joining in the shared warmth.

Emma's eyes drooped near the end of the movie, calling for sleep, but wanting to stay awake, for the small fear that her brother would disappear at any moment swished around her. She took Jack's hand in her own and finally let her eyelids close.

As she drifted off, she could feel him rub circles in the back of her hand, much like how she had in the hospital.

* * *

Due to his inability to attend his senior year of high school, Jack would be returning the following year to finish and graduate. Emma, though she would be a sophomore, felt as if she was truly getting her second chance. Not like when Jack was able to only speak to her, but now, she really could try again. Be a better sibling, enjoy life, and relish in every opportunity to spend with her family.

She trotted down the stairs to where her mother was cooking pancakes, and where Jack was eating them with impressive speed.

"Good morning Mom, Jack."

She walked over and wrapped an arm around her mother, squeezing tightly to show her affections.

"Good morning Emma," she returned, kissing her daughter's cheek.

She joined Jack at the table and took a plate and pancake, smiling at her brother as she did so. He grinned back, his pale face filled with warm colors as well.

"Morning Em," he said, swallowing his bite before shoving another in his mouth.

Emma giggle, "How can you eat so much food at once?'

The boy raised is arms in mock offense, "I was asleep for six months, I'm starving."

"Jack you've been home for a week."

He opened his mouth to retort, but was stopped by their mother rubbing his head, "Yes you have, and that reminds me, we need to change your bandages."

Jack groaned, disliking the task of removing the wrappings and reapplying the gross salve that the doctor had told them to apply.

"Mom, that stuff hurts when I put it on," he whined.

"That just means it's working sweetie," she left the kitchen, muttering something about how she still couldn't believe it, and went to go get the previously mentioned salve.

Jack and Emma sat in companionable silence, each consuming their breakfast of syrupy goodness.

"Hey Em?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you so nervous about telling me what happened these past six months?"

She froze, then swallowed her food, before looking at Jack and speaking.

"Because I'm not sure you'll believe me when I try and tell you."

Their mother reentered and he wanted to ask more, but Emma had pushed the topic away.

He stayed quiet, letting her enjoy morning conversation with their mother before she had to head off to school, and Jack to his doctor's appointment.

His questions left him later that day, when Emma returned from school and brought with her a finished painting. It was beautiful, several shades and tints of blues melded together in the picture, creating a scene that only his sister could have imagined. It was a snowy hillside, with snow capped mountains in the background.

In the center was him, flying through the air and laughing at the wind. A shepherd's crook was in his hand, and he looked to be surfing through the air on the staff. It was the most wondrous piece of art he'd ever had the pleasure to hold, and as she gave it to him to hang in his room, he realized that whether or not he ever knew what had happened in the past, he would look to the future. His life a mere speck in the wind he flew on, and he would do whatever it took to live every moment to the fullest.

* * *

 **Okay, so I know this was a really short chapter, and I was going to add more, but that stuff really belongs in the epilogue.**

 **It's coming up next and I think you'll love the surprise I have for you guys.**

 **R &R**

 **Until next time...**

 **Bye Bye~**


	10. End

**I don't own RotG.  
**

* * *

Emma shook Tooth's hand gratefully, and the woman nodded with a smile, before letting go and giving the girl a large hug.

Behind them, the rest of the supernatural group were waiting to leave, but only after saying their goodbyes to the teenaged girl.

"If you ever need anything, just give us a call, alright sweetheart?" Tooth said, handing a small card to her. Emma accepted it gratefully before smiling at the whole group.

"Thank you all for your help, I know I was kind of a brat at first, but... I really appreciate it. I just wish I knew how to explain to Jack what really happened."

Sandy came forward and took her hand. He gave her a smile and pointed to his heart, then to hers. Emma nodded graciously and gave the small man a hug.

The six got into their car, Tooth poking her head out the window, "Don't hesitate to ask for help okay?"

She waved back, "I'm sure we'll be just fine! Thank you!"

With that, Emma turned back towards home, where Jack was waiting for her with open arms.

* * *

That following year, Jack graduated at the top of his class, a surprise to many of his new classmates and to his family.

His memories didn't return, and Emma never explained to her brother the strange phenomenon of those lost six months to him. After a while, he accepted her wishes, and stopped asking. Between movies, a part time job, and finishing high school, he wanted to spend more time with his sister.

Jack was planning to take a gap year, to earn some money, and to think about what he wanted to do next. He knew he didn't want to leave Burgess, despite the fact that many of the town took his return as if it was the end of the world. They all got over it eventually, as everyone does. They just needed time.

And time was what Jack had plenty of.

After waking up in that hospital, he had a new outlook on life. He couldn't explain it to anyone but his sister, since she seemed to be the only one who understood.

How it felt as though he'd seen something in those six months, how whatever he'd missed, it felt almost as if he hadn't been comatose, like something had really happened with him there.

He read in a few papers about several weather phenomenons in the few weeks before he woke up, and how the cleanup was going. He looked at Emma only to find her ignoring the paper to look at the world outside the bus.

Speaking of, he would never understand why she rode the bus to school, but always made them walk back. Maybe she liked the exercise, he wouldn't know, but if it made her happy he would do it too.

Even though Jack spent his time at a fast food restaurant selling burgers, he'd never felt better in his life. He had a future, in time he would make a difference, he didn't know how, but when Emma walked through the doors after a long day at school to see him, he knew he didn't want to be anywhere but where he could help someone.

Fin~

* * *

 **M'kay! That's it!**

 **That's the end of the story, I hope you enjoyed.**

 **Okay, so the news I had planned for you guys was canceled, but I do have other news.**

 **I was originally planning a sequel for this, but I didn't know how to take it. I might do one in the far future, but that just has to be if I feel it, ya know?**

 **Anyways, I'm gonna start another fic soon, this time with the focus more on Jack, but with Emma still there too.**

 **I really hoped you guys liked it.**

 **Thank you.**

 **Bye Bye~**


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